Spanish Wells to Warderick Wells

We refueled and left Spanish Wells on Tuesday December 28th. We left around noon in order to time our arrival at Current Cut around slack tide. This is a cut between the sound at the northern end of Eluthera and the southern part of Eleuthera. As the name implies there can be a severe current flowing through the cut. While doing some research on it I found some web sites that claim that this is the best drift dive for scuba divers in the world. At times the current can get up to 10 knots. Our boat won't even go that fast so it would be impossible and dangerous to try to go through when there is a strong current flowing. We arrived at the cut around high tide and went right into the cut having the current flowing with us at between one half and one knot. As we came out of the cut we had to make a ninety degree turn to the right into a narrow channel. If the current is flowing to fast it can carry the boat right into the shallows.

About a mile past the cut on the south side of Current Island we anchored for the night. The weather was calm and in the mid 60's overnight with clear skies. It was so dark we could see stars right down to the horizon. There was only one other boat near us.

On Wednesday we left early for the 40 miles to get to Allen's Cay in the northern Exuma island chain. We made good time and pulled into the anchorage around 3:00 in the afternoon. As soon as we got anchored Steve and Roberta from Chanticleer dinghyed over to us. They are the boat we were rafted up to in Vero Beach. They had arrived from Nassau about 30 minutes before we arrived.

We only stayed at Allen's Cay for one night. On Thursday we headed down to Norman's Cay which was only about a 14 mile sail. Chanticleer was right on our stern as we made the sail. We both pulled into the anchorage at Norman's around noon. We stayed at Norman's for four nights. During our visit we hiked on the island and did some beach combing to look for shells. We also snorkeled the nearby reef which didn't really have that much sea life. I was particularly looking for lobsters to catch. We were able to see fireworks on New Year's Eve from an island to the southeast of us. There isn't any settlement at Norman's and not much really going on.

We departed Norman's on Monday the 3rd of January and motored the 6 miles southeast to Shroud Cay. This is the start of the Exuma Land and Sea Park which extends to the southeast another 20 miles or so. After anchoring we took the dinghy and explored the northern end of the island. We went to one of the beaches and walked on the sand and in the shallows. We found several conch but had to put them back. The park does not allow any taking of fish, shellfish or lobsters.

We just stayed one night at Shroud Cay and then had a nice sail 18 miles down to Warderick Wells. We were able to get a mooring buoy in the north mooring field. There is a cold front coming in with winds predicted to be 25-30 knots from the west and northwest. This is a good protected spot and the moorings were filling fast.

We took a hike to Boo Boo hill and beach and went to some blow holes on the ocean side of the island. It is called Boo Boo hill because it is supposed to be haunted from a ship wreck in the 18th century. Very scenic area with many different colors of the water. I have some great photos but won't be able to get them uploaded until we have a faster internet connection. We also have one of the better snorkel sites just 100 yards from the boat. We have already snorkeled there several times. There are numerous varieties of fish and some huge lobsters. The water is still a little chilly so we have to wear our wet suits when we snorkel.

We will be here until after the cold front passes through and then continue moving southeast.